Shao
Yong (Shao Yung 邵雍, 1011-1077) stood out among
Neo-Confucians for his in-depth knowledge of mathematics and his sophisticated
study on iconography and numerology. Using
symbols and numbers derived from the Yijing,
Shao tried to categorize the whole cosmos, including humans’ worldly affairs,
into a structured system. His studies on
the Yijing may have sparked the
intense interests in the Yijing among
early Neo-Confucians. However, Shao Yong’s
thought is so abstract and sophisticated that even his contemporary philosopher
remarked that it would take twenty years to understand it. As a result, Shao Yong was marginalized in
later developments of Neo-Confucianism, and he remains an enigma in Chinese
philosophy to this day. His most
important work, the Huangji Jingshi (皇極經世, Book
of Supreme World Ordering Principles), is a massive volume investigating
the origination of the cosmos on the basis of an A Priori Diagram (xiantian tu
先天圖) that he designed. It is an essential work on
Chinese cosmogony, but due to its complexity and the esoteric numerology, few
contemporary scholars have done studies on this book.

Key works

Birdwhistell 1989 takes on an ambitious task in explicating Shao’s metaphysical
ideas. Wyatt 1996 is a philosophical biography of Shao Yong, aiming to
reconstruct Shao’s life with the limited information we have of him from his contemporary
and his writings. Since there is so little written in English on Shao Yong,
both these works are recommended here as they present different aspects of
Shao’s philosophy.

Introductions

Birdwhistell 1989 aims to
unlock the mystery of Shao Yong’s system of symbolic representation of reality.
It begins with Shao Yong’s historical and philosophical contexts, and moves on
to reconstruct Shao Yong’s thought as an explanatory structure of the operation
of the universe. It is an accessible introduction
to an otherwise obtuse philosophy.

Wyatt,
Don J. The Recluse of Loyang - Shao Yung
and the Moral Evolution of Early Sung Thought. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press. 1996.

This book may unlock some of the mysteries surrounding
Shao Yong the philosopher. It sets Shao
in his historical context, and recounts his family background, his
relationships with friendly associates and political enemies. It gives a
partial introduction to Shao’s moral philosophy, and challenges Birdwhistell
1989’s negligent treatment of Shao’s moral philosophy.

The Yijing/Binary System Episode involved Leibniz' discovery of a de facto representation of the binary number system in the sixty-four-hexagram Fu Xi "Yijing." Scholars have left the match unexplained, since they have found no evidence of a forgotten binary number system in ancient China. The interesting similarities and differences are discussed between the thought of Leibniz and that of Shao Yong, both of whom, it is argued, understood and recognized the importance of the double geometric progression in the diagram.